


Unravel

by Averander



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Elven speaking Lavellan, F/M, Heavy Angst, Heavy Plot, Heavy Plot Reasons, Heavy everything wink wonk, LOTS OF POV CHANGING OK, Later Changes in Rating, M/M, Mystery, POV Lavellan, POV Solas, Solas Spoilers, more tags to come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 22:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5515280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Averander/pseuds/Averander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She had known when they told her of her fate how it was going to end. There was too much hatred in her for it to end any other way. The mark just complicated things.<br/>He had known when he woke up, when the sky had fallen to pieces, how it was going to end. There was too much at stake for it to end any other way. Her mark just complicated things.<br/>They both just didn’t know how much.<br/>教えてよ 教えてよ その仕組みを<br/>僕の中に誰がいるの？<br/>SolasLavellan</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unravel

“Dirthera ghilanas hahren.” The words were bitter on her tongue as the elves stood around her, vallaslin still burning and bright on her own features and their eyes still judging, still spitting accusations and a kind of hatred that she thought she’d gotten past. No, it had always been there, even though she had denied it. It had always been there even as her face itched and burned so much she wanted to scratch away the skin. 

“Garahnen etuna linast ahnsul nuvenin nan.” Deshanna’s eyes were cold, a soft frown on her lips as she leant on her staff. “I’ve decided that you will go to the shemlen meeting, this Conclave that they are having. Be our eyes and our ears. If _necessary_ , I think you know what to do.” Her lips upturned, the expression so subtle she wondered if the others didn’t notice. 

Lavellan knew then that this was her purpose, the clan only needed her for this. Not to be the next keeper, no she was expendable. This was why they sent her out, cast her out. She had a very important job to do, and it was going to end in blood. 

~  
He looked up into the sky as it blossomed, the light almost blinding as it wrenched in two above the temple. Solas had known it was coming, ever since the betrayal, he had to have known, but to see it was something else. His heart ached to see it. To know it. He knew then how it would be from then on. Struggle, like he had always known, but different this time. This was a struggle without the powers of before, it would be a much more subtle struggle this time. Perhaps it would even be amusing, though challenging. Terrifying, of course, lonely certainly for this time, there were no armies for him to fall back upon. 

This was a fight that he would be facing alone. 

The sky bloomed in green, sickly and terrifying, and the village below was filled with screaming. For a moment, he pondered leaving them to their fate, and moving on the temple itself, but he remembered his position in this new world and realised that perhaps it was better to forge alliances then make foolhardy moves of grandeur.  
When playing chess, it was better to wait and see what pride had wrought.

~  
Her eyes darted across the faces of the humans around her, their eyes filled with a potent hatred, new and enflamed as they pointed their swords at her throat even though she was bound. She could feel the sweat beading at her forehead but this had been what she was trained for. What she had expected to happened, perhaps. Not in the hopeful outcomes certainly but well, nothing ever turned out perfectly. 

She could feel her hand pulsing and crackling, whatever magic the humans had put on her was painful to say the least. 

Footsteps echoed down the corridor outside, coming closer till the oaken door was nearly kicked off its hinges. The two shem that came in looked like they must be leaders of some sort, one in heavy armour covered in unfamiliar chantry symbols that Lavellan was sure she’d seen somewhere before but couldn’t quite recall. The other wore a deep purple hood that shrouded her features, the fabric a little too fine for someone working with the chantry really. 

In those few seconds of scrutiny the armoured women moved to tower over the elf, her dark eyes filled with an emotion that Lavellan could almost sympathise with. 

“Tell me, why shouldn’t we kill you now?” She raised a hand and the swords were drawn back, though Lavellan doubted it was in any way for her benefit. “The conclave is destroyed and all who attended it, dead. All except you.” She remained silent, not knowing what the human was babbling about. It was absurd. The human snarled and leaned down, wrenching manacled hands up and pulling at the glowing palm as though proof of some misdeed. “Explain this!”

“Tel’dirth shemlen!” Lavellan spat, spit flying and hitting the human square on the cheek. The shem’s face contorting in equal parts confusion and anger. 

“You insolent little…” The blow came with enough warning but there wasn’t anything Lavellan could do about it, the armoured fist colliding with soft flesh and ripping into skin with an ease that would have been shocking if it wasn’t so common. She could taste the blood in her mouth and her jaw felt shaken, though thankfully not broken. Her nose on the other hand didn’t feel like it had faired that much better as blood streamed over her lips.

“Ma tel’dasal bellanaris din’a heem.” The words were filled with her hate, her rage, as her green eyes glared defiantly up at the human above her. “Se ela dana dun, tel’dana elgar.”

“Cassandra, please.” The other human put a hand to the armoured one’s shoulder, as though trying to placate the wrath bubbling to the surface. “We need her.”

“Do you really think this elf will help us, Lelianna?” Cassandra spat, “She is obviously hostile.”

“Perhaps things need a more delicate touch.” Lelianna stepped out from the shadows and knelt down before Levallen, eyes level with the elf’s. “Tell me, what happened…. What do you remember? Otherwise you may never get out of here.” There was something in the woman’s eyes, something familiar that tugged at her heart. Too dear to her, too close…

“Sa item leal lean. Ghi’myem i shemlenaan, leal’asha shala…” Lavellan swallowed thickly as she realised her words meant nothing to the shemlen, “Leal lean. …l-light…Leal’Asha. Leal’asha shala. Shala…p…protect. Hartha?” The woman simply looked confused, Lavellan took a deep breath. “Asha… Ma asha.” She held her hands to her chest, “Se asha.” She pointed to Lelianna, hands struggling with the weight of her bonds, not sure how else to try and get the concept across. The human leant back, but realised that the elf was trying to communicate a concept. 

“…se…ashe?”

“Se asha. Asha!” She sighed, then looked at one of the guards, realising he would make this far more simple. “Is tel’asha. Hartha? Tel’asha. Se asha, ma asha, is tel’asha.” It was like talking to a baby. 

“Asha….You and I are asha but he is…tel’asha… he is…a different asha…? Could asha mean…woman?” Lavellan nodded, “So… woman… something about a woman…”

“Lelianna please…” 

“Sa item leal lean. Leal’asha shala.”

“…I think I understand. Something about light, and a woman… protection… do you mean she protected something?” Lavellan gestured as clearly as she could to herself with her manacles and Leliana nodded “You, she protected you…from what?”

“Many shem.” 

“Many? Were you really behind all of this? Were they Templars? Mages?” Leliana’s brow furrowed deeply. 

“Ma tel’hartha. Shemlen britha aron.”

“We don’t have time for this, every moment we spend here is another moment the breach grows stronger. Leliana you head to the forward camp, I’ll take the prisoner to the rift.”

“Do you think you can keep her alive that long?” She got to her feet and shot her companion a glance, only mildly comforted by the fact that it seemed Cassandra had gotten her temper under control, for now. There were far too many emotions at play here for them to be taking risks. 

“I thought you knew me better than that.”

“Do I Cassandra? I’ve seen you go a bit further than I would like with prisoners at times. If we lose this one, the stakes are a little too high.” Whatever was exchanged in their glance, it meant something to them that others would not understand. They had shared too much in their lives now, and lost too much to not know what it meant. 

“I know what the stakes are. She meant just as much to me.”

“Did she? I don’t think she did.” The pain the filled the room was something beyond Lavellan’s comprehension, though she suppose perhaps it felt something like the dull throbbing of her nose, blood still spilling down her face. She wondered if it would be too much to ask to be able to wash her face before they left, but well, they wouldn’t be able to understand her anyway. Cassandra sighed and scratched the back of her head as she turned to her prisoner, swallowing thickly as she nodded to the guards.

“Unchain her. We march for the rift.”

**Author's Note:**

> Translations in order – All of these are contextual translations  
> Dirthera ghilanas hahren -“Tell me of my fate, elder.”  
> “Garahnen etuna linast ahnsul nuvenin nan.” - “Everything that is to pass will be bloody because you want revenge.”  
> “Tel’dirth shemlen!” -“I’ll never talk, quick blood.”  
> “Ma tel’dasal bellanaris din’a heem” - “If I weren’t bound, I would make you dead.”  
> “Se ela dana dun, tel’dana elgar.” - “You may break my body, but you can’t break my spirit.”  
> “Sa item leal lean. Ghi’myem i shemlenaan, leal’asha shala…” - “I saw a bright light, I was hunted by many quick bloods, the bright woman protected me…”  
> “Leal lean. …l-light…Leal’Asha. Leal’asha shala. Shala…p…protect. Hartha?” - “Bright light. …l-light…Bright woman. The bright woman protected me. Shala…p…protect. Understand?”  
> “Asha… Ma asha.” - “Woman… I am a woman.”  
> “Se asha.” - “You are a woman.”  
> “Se…ashe?” - “I…ashe?”  
> “Se asha. Asha!” -“You’re a woman. Woman!”  
> “Is tel’asha. Hartha? Tel’asha. Se asha, ma asha, is tel’asha.” - “He is not a woman. Understand? Not a woman. You are a woman, I am a woman, and he is not a woman.”  
> “Asha….You and I are asha but he is…tel’asha… he is…a different asha…? Could asha mean…woman?” - “Woman….You and I are woman but he is…not a woman… he is…a different woman…? Could woman mean…woman?” (best sentence 2015)  
> “Ma tel’hartha. Shemlen britha aron.” - “I don’t know. Quick bloods look alike.”


End file.
